Toyota is one of the largest automakers with about 7.4 million vehicles sold every year on five continents. Since 2007, through its commitment to its customers, its innovative spirit and the constant quest to improve quality, Toyota has held a leading position in the automotive market in Asia. It has the unique advantage of being the best-selling Japanese brand in the U.S. and to be number one in Europe.

To fully understand the values and principles that govern the proprietary company, it is interesting to revisit its past, and the ideal starting point to illustrate a point in the history of the automobile. The story of Toyota begins in the late 19th century with the invention of the first Sakichi Toyoda automatic loom in Japan. It was a machine that helped revolutionize the textile industry of the country.

Kiichiro Toyoda extended the innovations of his father in a different industry but he was apprehensive about its future in Europe and the United States in the 1920s. He reused the knowledge acquired in making looms, and in 1937, he founded the Toyota Motor Corporation. Thanks to the contributions of Taiichi Ohno, Toyota offered a unique production system and employed the most efficient system in the world of "just in time."

The Japanese automaker sold 90,000 cars over the first quarter as the Detroit giant. Each group has released record sales for the quarter January to March 2007, but the Japanese grew in volume at GM, taking advantage of the difficulties of it in the United States.

Toyota, which manufactures including the Camry, the best-selling car in the U.S. market, had a 9% growth of its quarterly sales is 2.35 million units. General Motors, meanwhile, sold 2.26 million vehicles during the period, a figure up 3%.

The U.S. group said its estimated global market share to 13% in the first quarter, a tenth of a point lower than a year ago. Figures released by Toyota include its premium brand Lexus and Scion, which targets young customers, and the production of its Japanese subsidiary Daihatsu Motor and truck manufacturer Hino Motors. The U.S., meanwhile, includes a dozen brands including Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Opel and Saab.

The new dominance of Toyota on the auto market could persist due to the current trend for compact cars, fuel efficient and environmentally friendly. According to recent studies, Toyota controls 15.7% of the market in the U.S. thanks to hybrid models he pioneered.

In parallel to this came at the highest worldwide, Toyota is expected to announce a record operating results. A result that is expected to exceed 12.5 billion euros, a first for a Japanese company. The growth of the Japanese manufacturer is even more impressive than the growth of major global markets of the automobile is little, if any. The image of all Western automakers has been deteriorating for a decade.

Rather, the market in Europe and North America is mature. Regions such as China, India, Eastern Europe is untapped markets represent great potential and offer multiple opportunities for growth for Toyota and the automotive industry.